Typewriting machine



Dec. 19, 1933.

F. Ellas-:RT 1,940,644 TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed July 2. 1931 1.-0- of the carriage, but

Patented Dec. 19, 1933 1,940,644 v TYPEWRITING MACHINE yFritz Elbert, Munich, Germany, assigner of onehal to Hermann Stark, Munich, Germany Application July 2, 1931, SerialNo. 548,368, and in Germany' June 11, 1930 f Practically allof the many known typewriting ,machines although partly highly developed leavenevertheless much to be desired. I mention especially inmost cases the too heavy touch, VVthe -complicatedness of the step-by-step motion mechanism for the carriage, the many repairs and the expenses incurred for keeping the machines in proper working state. other drawbacks are completely done away with by the present. invention by which the mechanism for moving the carriage in steps is considerably simplied, the manufacturing costs are considerably reduced and the lifetime of the machine is .considerably lengthened, apart from other advantages, as for instance very easy touch, doing away with repairs, etc. etc. A particular feature of the improved mechanism is this that springs are completely obviated so that the touch can be very light and the writer can, therefore, write by far longer than is possible with the other machines in which the force of springs' counteracting the touch must be overcome. In the other machines the springs cannot be dispensed with, as the strength of the blow of the "types upon the paper on the carriage depends greatly upon them. This is no more the case in my improved machine which, therefore, is also not subject to the disadvantages resulting from the existence of the springs. The greater simmore robust use in unskilled hands, that is to say, it is by far less sensitive, as a lot of parts otherwise requisite in the construction are now lacking.

The chief improvement resides in the novel step-by-step motion provided for the carriage, the arrangement and construction of the members being vsuch that that motion or mechanism produces not only the step-by-step movement also the return movement of the type levers. That mechanism is connected by means of a horizontal rod or arm with the bow that transmits the movements of the type levers to it, in that a nose provided at each of these levers pushes upon said bow and moves rearwardly, whereby this mechanism is actuated and the carriage is shifted by means of the known` spring provided for this purpose by a distance ,corresponding to` one character. vBesides thisV known spring which does not constitute a member of the step-by-step motion, there is not one other spring in this mechanism which is the main cause that the touch upon the keys is so very light. The main members of` said mechanism are, rstly, two parallel racks with ratchet- All these and -part of this introductory part of this specificaplicity of this improved machine permits of a these arms which co-operate with one of the spring, the force of which'must be overcome by teeth, which are directed towards onejanother and from between them a narrow gap, the length ofwhich corresponds to the' length of said racks, and secondly, two rods which arearranged at right angles with respect to the racks and the free ends of which form'pawls that co-operate alternately with said ratchet-teeth. The twov racks are rigidly connected with one another 'and are always subject to the pull'of the above mentioned spring provided for the carriageythere' being transmitting 'members ybetween the carriagev and said racks with theirvratchet teeth, and it is due to the action of saidspringf that `at every rearwardand orwardmovement ofthe said arm the racks are moved byone step, that is to say, byas much as corresponds to? one of the ratchet teeth.' The "to-and-fro motion of the said arms is effected'by the swinging movement of the type levers which are operated by the key levers by the intermediary of transmission members, as is all fully described hereinafter.

Besides the advantages mentioned in the iirst tion, other advantages are these that the bulk and the height of the type-writing machine are 8l)V reduced so that it is more compact and more easily portable and thereforeV particularly suited for travellers.

The invention is illustrated dagrammatically and by way oi example on theaccompanying drawing on which Figure 1 is a side-view of the mechanism for the step-by-step movement of the carriage; Figure 2 is a plan of the members v shown in Fig. l, the type lever and the key leve being, however, omitted.

Referring to said gures, ho and h2 are straight rackathe teeth of which are directed towards one another and which co-operate with an arm a0 and with an arm a that is connected with the 4 arm'V a1 by means of a double-armed lever d0, by 95: which the to-and-fro motions of the arm al are transmitted to the arm a0. That end of each of racks is designed as a pawl. The arm a0 is subjected to the pressure of a flat spring Z1 and is held 100 by this spring in contact with an abutment pin l. When the arm al is actuated by the bow b,-both arm pawls co-operate with the two racks in the same manner-'as the roll c co-operates with the ratchet teeth e and e1, and it will be obvious that the carriage will be moved in steps under the pull of the car spring (not shown) by the intermediary of the rope or the like h1. There-is no the keys when any one of them is depressed, and llO that being so the touch is extraordinarily light and very quick writing is rendered possible. All parts ofV the simple mechanism operate with perfect reliability and repairs are practically excluded.

The bow b is supported upon rearwardly extending lugs of the segment n from which the type levers i are suspended. The entire set of type levers can be withdrawn. That withdrawing is rendered possible by the particular conguration of the rear end of the type levers i, in that said end is provided with a straight oblique face i upon which bears the hookjZof the intermediate lever fil. A particular advantage of this possibility to remove the entire set of type levers in a quick and easy manner resides therein that types of one chracter can be replaced by types ci another character, and the like, such as types more tting to another language. Such an exchange is such an easy procedure that the owner of the type-Writing machine can doit himself, without skilled hands. Y

Concerning the manufacture of the machine great savings are obtained as. regards amount of work, wages, time, and so on. The so-called type basketscran be made independent of the frame and the other parts of the machine, such as the car etc., andrany of these baskets can bel mounted in4 any of the otherwise finished frames. It is a great progress that the type levers need not be inserted singly into the machine, but that al1 of them can be` inserted at the same time, whereby the work is greatly simplified.

Finally, I wish it also to be understood that I do not limit myself to all details shown in the drawing merely by way of example. There are, in the details, many departures possible which does not, however, constitute departures from the invention, especially from the principle embodied.

I claim:

1. In a type-writing or similar machine, in combination with the carriage, the paper roller thereon, and the type levers, a vertical segment, from the lower rim of which the type-levers are suspended; a vertical bow arranged just behind said segment; noses provided at the type levers near their suspension places and being adapted to push upon said bow when the appertaining type levers are operated by the appertaining key levers; a ratchet mechanism comprising two racks and pawls co-operating with them, said racks being subjected to the pull of the means tending to draw the carriage to the left, and an arm extending rearwardly from said feeding bow and being connected with said pawls so as to engage and disengage alternately said pawls from said racks in order to eiect the step-by-step motion of the carriage, substantially as set forth.

2. In a type-writing or similar machine, in combination with the carriage, the paper roller thereon, and the type-levers, two racks having ratchet-teeth,Y the oblique ilanks of which extend in different directions; pawls engaging said racksY alternately and being connected with one another; a connection between said racks and said carriage, this connection being subjected to the means tending to move the carriage in steps to the left in accordance with the operation of the key levers and the appertaining type levers; a feeding bow so located with respect to the type levers asl to be adapted tof be shifted rearwardly by any of them; an arm hinged to said bow and extending rearwardly and being connected with said pawls, all substantially and for the purpose set forth.

FRITZ VEIBERT. 

